IDA Ireland signs MoU with China’s ICBC Financial Leasing

Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, arrives in Shanghai to open the new Morgan McKinley offices on Monday. Yesterday, the Irish Government also signed an MoU on science and technology with the Chinese government

In Beijing today, IDA Ireland has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China’s ICBC Financial Leasing, a global leader in aircraft leasing and part of ICBC, which is currently the world’s largest bank. The aim of the MoU is to spur on future collaborations and commercial opportunities.

In recent years, ICBC has helped a large volume of Chinese companies to expand overseas.

The MoU has been signed in Beijing today as part of the State visit to China, which is being led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD.

Both Kenny and Bruton were at the signing, as was the president of ICBC, Yang Kaisheng.

Under the terms of the MoU, IDA Ireland and ICBC Financial Leasing have agreed on increased co-operation and to hold regular meetings to explore further commercial opportunities of interest to both sides.

The signing of the MoU today follows Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping’s State visit to Ireland in February.

IDA Ireland’s chief executive Barry O’Leary signed the MoU together with Cong Lin, the CEO of ICBC Financial Leasing.

Right now, ICBC is the world’s largest bank, with 397,339 employees and US$1.9trn worth of assets.

Its leasing arm ICBC Financial Leasing already has a presence in Ireland. It currently manages US$2bn worth of aircraft assets from its Dublin office, which opened in 2009.

This operation does business with more than 10 countries and there are plans to expand this base in future years, confirmed the IDA today.

Welcoming the initiative, O’Leary said the IDA was "delighted" to reach an agreement with ICBC Financial Leasing to enable further co-operation on commercial projects.

“Such agreements provide a boost to the Irish economy as we seek to cement long-term links with China across a range of growing industries," said O’Leary.